SXSW Home > South by Southwest Live Updates > Archives > 2007 > March > 15
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Seoul Electric Band
Artist: Seoul Electric Band
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Venue: Day show at Austin City Hall’s outdoor plaza, Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Cultural ambassadors set the stage with a short exhibit of traditional dance and drumming.
High point: The particularly enthusiastic applause for “The Cat’s Hometown Song” was augmented by the belching engine of a passing trailer truck.
Low point: “I’d Like to Follow You,” a tepid reggae-ish tune that was followed by a Hendrix-influenced instrumental recorded for a video-game soundtrack.
Post-show buzz: The crowd — preschoolers, businesspeople, and apparently proud Korean-Americans — contained a lot of folks who probably won’t see many actual SXSW showcases, and the unjaded, friendly reception to this mildly psychedelic three-piece was refreshing.
Afterthoughts: How many SXSW artists include two songs about their pets in a single set list?
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Umbrellas
Artist: Umbrellas
Hometown: Norman, Okla.
Venue: Day show at Momo’s, Thursday
Pre-show buzz we didn’t know about beforehand: They didn’t make the official SXSW cut, but “Grey’s Anatomy” likes them enough to put their songs in the show.
High point: The keen sound of an antique Rhodes keyboard, propelling the band’s more upbeat songs.
Appearances can be deceptive department: Aside from the tidily groomed singer, you’d swear the hirsute, plaid-clad combo was a jam band, not a sensitively poppy indie group
Afterthoughts: No offense to singer/bandleader Scott Windsor, but after having gotten hooked on the Spinanesy “Again and Again” a few months ago, this writer was surprised to learn the vocalist wasn’t a woman.
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Everybody Else
Artist: Everybody Else
Hometown: Los Angeles
Venue: Day show at Momo’s, Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Zilch, as far as official SXSW goes.
High point: Drummer decides to play keyboards while keeping time on his kit.
Low point: The lyric “You got the money that I want so bad / I like the rich girls.”
Post-show buzz: With their sleeveless T-shirts, face-obscuring bangs, and general Ocean Pacific-ness, pretty sure they were fielding offers from Tiger Beat.
Afterthoughts: The Cheap Trick- and Cars-influenced pop wasn’t exactly deep, but it wasn’t boring, either.
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The Gray Kid
Artist: The Gray Kid
Hometown: Los Angeles
Venue: Day show at the Belmont, Thursday
Pre-show buzz: White-boy hip-hopper has cool connections but not much exposure around here.
High point: Disappointed at low-wattage response from a crowd seated under umbrellas, he swore: “My rule next year, before signing up for a showcase, is no chairs.”
Low point: Trying to force a crowd response with a few too many up-close-and-personal interactions.
Post-show buzz: Having taken his friends out with him, there didn’t seem to be many people buzzing.
Afterthoughts: Hard to tell if the guy’s serious. Falsetto false-soul alternated with uninspired jeep-beat rap, all delivered by a guy wearing a vest and bandana with no shirt underneath. If this was irony, he’s a committed actor.
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Eliza Carthy
Artist: Eliza Carthy
Hometown: Whitby, U.K.
Venue: Visions, 9:10 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: The worthy offspring of British folk icons Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson is celebrated at home as both a traditional singer-violinist and folk innovator.
High point: Carthy’s powerful alto is as pure as rainwater and bracing as the sea air. The original songs were as charming as the traditional numbers and a Billy Bragg cover. She displayed a gorgeous sense of harmony both singing with her acoustic guitarist Aidan Curran on a tune of his, and playing violin on an instrumental duet.
Low point: The humidity caused her to spend a bit of time between songs getting her vintage guitar in tune, but her wry humor and easy rapport with the crowd made even tuning diverting.
Post-show buzz: Smiles all round.
Afterthoughts: Look for a new album of original material, ‘Dreams of Breathing Underwater,’ due in September.
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The Postmarks
Artist: The Postmarks
Hometown: Miami
Venue: Day party at the Belmont, Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Precious, precise pop should make a lovely day-starter.
High point: Nobody died.
Low point: After soundcheck difficulties that stretched for ages and sometimes sounded like a musique concrète event, front woman Tim Yehezkely (yes, Tim’s a woman) understandably had a hard time getting in the spirit of things.
Post-show buzz: These guys are getting another chance later in the day, right?
Afterthoughts: The band started to recover as their cut-short set neared its end, but a horrible sound mix had the drums beating daydreamy synths to death, not to mention Yehezkely’s wispy vocals. Let’s hope the sound guy never got close to the big cast encasing the singer’s injured leg.
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The Apples in Stereo
Artist: The Apples in Stereo
Hometown: Denver
Venue: Day party at Speakeasy, Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Indie pop darlings have first new album in five years.
High point: The new album’s “Energy,” less production-sparkly than the album version and more, you know, energetic.
Low point: No appearance by respected television pundit Stephen Colbert, who recently used Apples frontman Robert Schneider as musical cheerleader in his grudge match against The Decemberists.
Highlights of stage decor: The bassist’s “Police Line: Do Not Cross” guitar strap; the star-shaped lamp, made of fused plastic pebbles, atop a keyboard amp.
Post-show buzz: Who has time? The band had to get across town for a KUT drop-in and a live performance at the “Austin City Limits” studio for Seattle radio station KEXP. Judging from the tight set here, radioland didn’t know how lucky it was about to be.
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Bob Mould
Artist: Bob Mould
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Venue: Buffalo Billiards, 9 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Bob’s just coming back to Austin to get a coffee at Flightpath
High point: For Bob, getting that coffee at his old neighborhood coffee house. For everybody else, hearing “Celebrated Summer.”
Low point: Really hard to keep that thing in tune when you bang it that hard.
Post-show buzz: Nice guy, posed for pictures.
Afterthoughts: Former Austinite and indie rock god Mould played one tune off a record that he promised would be out in August that would be — surprise — “kinda dark.”
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Say Hi to Your Mom
Artist: Say Hi to Your Mom
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Venue: Buffalo Billiards, 8 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Quietly crafting guitar-based alt-rock records in the spaces between influential bands such as Hum and Death Cab For Cutie.
Most humorously emo lyric: “We can play Pac Man or go to the library. Or we can order Pad Thai without the MSG.”
High point: When singer/guitarist Eric Elbogen rocked his sweet black Fender Jaguar guitar under the blissful sounds of his melancholy indie rock coo during one of the band’s best songs, “Sad, But Endearingly So.”
On point: One guitarist, one keyboardist and one drummer: Say Hi To Your Mom’s bass player-less rock ‘n’ roll hits the mark on your heart. And their keyboardist, Nouela, plays all the right bass notes with her left hand.
Post-show buzz: Elbogen has talent. His songs possess a sense of humor without being overly campy. How many other folks do you find writing songs about video games and vampires while allowing their lyrics to sound crestfallen and poignant? Check out their most recent release, “Impeccable Blahs.”
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Stax 50 Revue
Show: Stax 50th Revue
Hometown: Memphis, Tenn.
Venue: Antone’s, 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: 50th birthday celebration of legendary soul label.
High point: Eddie Floyd singing “my national anthem,” “Knock on Wood,” and getting so into it that, even after the fan he wanted to pull onstage demurred, he came back later and insisted.
Low point: A line that stretched out of sight as early as an hour before showtime.
Sartorial notes: The Stax frontmen made a fashion statement: William Bell in killer pinstripes; Eddie Floyd in a suit made of fabric so shimmery it must have been extraterrestrial, and Isaac Hayes, too frail to sing much but looking regal in a flowing red robe.
Afterthoughts: The vocal sets were short but awfully sweet, with Bell’s aching “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” Floyd on “Soul Man” and everyone sharing “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” But Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn and the cucumber-cool Booker T. Jones were the bedrock, men who played on innumerable classics and were in fine form here.
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Aqualung
Artist: Aqualung
Hometown: South London, U.K.
Venue: Stubb’s, 9 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Matt Hale, aka Aqualung, started his musical career early, writing tunes on his family’s piano at the age of 4. Thirty-one years later, he is known for his sophisticated songwriting, featured on “Scrubs,” “The O.C.” and that enticing Volkswagen Beetle commercial. Intimate, sensitive and smooth, Hale will likely have his fair share of female attention for the night.
High point: A steady buildup of an epic, electric keyboard, stomping bass and moody vocals that sound like a walk in the rain — he’s channeling Jeff Buckley, all right.
Low point: The ugly dissonance of an experimental scratching through the end of a song. Didn’t need that.
Post-show buzz: True fans felt like they had just had an intimate conversation with Hale.
Afterthoughts: It would be nice if the foamy commercial success doesn’t go to his head because 10 years from now, it would be better to see Hale at a concert hall than at an arena. Then again, he has the voice for both.
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Oxbow
Artist: Oxbow
Hometown: San Francisco
Venue: Emo’s Annex, 8:30 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Oxbow have been making extremely melodramatic, somewhat avant-garde heavy rock for roughly 10,000 years. (Actually, only since about 1990, but boy howdy, it feels like 10,000). Every year they come to SXSW, completely slay and go home. Their songs are complicated, interesting, threatening-sounding and involve a five-string fretless electric bass, one of the most nonthreatening instruments ever made. No idea how they pull that one off.
High point: Dangerously charismatic (and sometimes plain dangerous) vocalist Eugene Robinson is fond of taping his ears up like a street fighter (he has written articles on grappling and extreme fighting). He sings and gesticulates like the proverbial man possessed. He is also fond of stripping down to his drawers and repeatedly fondling his crotch while singing. There is also a better than even chance that the underwear will disappear sometime during the set. This did not happen this time around.
Low point: See also high point.
Post-show buzz: Reminded everyone that Oxbow can be an amazing band that will never, ever get their due. They will continue to make often-excellent records that will be utterly ignored by no more than a cult. They’re the Albert Brooks of avant-metal. Also, they had more than four pieces of merch this time around, which was nice.
Afterthoughts: What, no nudity? Is Austin suddenly the capital of Utah or something?
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The Chairs of Perception (the Urinals)
Artist: The Chairs of Perception (formerly the Urinals)
Hometown: Los Angeles
Venue: Beerland, 5 p.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Almost nil, considering the band was added that day. Word got around fast.
High point: Launched in the late ’70s, the Urinals were one of America’s primal post-punk bands, translating punk’s loud-fast-rules vibe into something brainier, tighter and more minimalist — a bit like Wire in England, but funnier. They have been ripped off by generations of bands that have no idea they are ripping off the Urinals. So hearing these cats play the Urinals classic ‘Ack Ack Ack’ was pretty boss.
Low point: Other than some bass amp troubles and backward-baseball-capped frat dudes in the front, none.
Post-show buzz: Everyone had just seen the Urinals (excuse me, the Chairs of Perception), for free, after an afternoon of solid but not legendary thrash bands. The audience was, in short, pleased.
Afterthoughts: Completely worth stopping by Beerland in the middle of the day.
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The Hazey Janes
Artist: The Hazey Janes
Hometown: Dundee, U.K.
Venue: Homeslice Pizza, 6ish, Thursday
Pre-show buzz: I was headed to my car and heard something so rocking, I forgot I needed to go home.
High point: You name it. Guitarist Andrew Mitchell and guitarist/mini-keyboardist Alice Marra both have wonderful voices, and their harmonies are superb. The rhythm section is melodic as well as super-tight. The stellar material ranges from pure Big Star-style power pop to vintage California country and pop to outright rockers full of curveballs. Never a dull moment.
Low point: There probably won’t be too many more chances to see them play for free in back of pizza parlors.
Post-show buzz: You rarely see such a rapt audience at one of these afternoon bashes. A line for CDs formed as soon as the band stopped playing.
Afterthoughts: No wonder the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris was willing to guest on the band’s album, ‘Hotel Radio.’ Catch their official showcase at Maggie Mae’s Rooftop, 11 p.m. Saturday. Go, go.
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Lions in the Street
Artist: Lions In the Street
Hometown: Vancouver, B.C.
Venue: Brush Square Park. 3 p.m. Wednesday
High point: A set-ending guitar jam on “You’re Gonna Lose” that suggested a Canadian Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Low point: Hungry crowd seemed more intent on loading up at the buffet than cheering on this dynamic band.
Post-show buzz: A short, but sweet set that makes me want to catch the full-on showcase at Club DeVille Saturday at midnight. The first great band I saw at SXSW this year.
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The Ends
Artist: The Ends
Hometown: Austin
Venue: Beerland, midnight Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: The Ends have built their musical house with vintage British punk rock bricks from 1978.
High point: Vocalist Ian Shults channeled the ghost of the Clash’s Joe Strummer in his vocal delivery. Faux British accents can quickly become annoying in the wrong hands, but Shults pulls off his London Calling-influence with snotty, bratty, bombastic aplomb like a spastic, who-knows-where-it’s-going-to-land atom bomb.
On point: The rhythm section of bassist Monte Williams and drummer Venom delivers rock ‘n’ roll thunder, song after song.
Post-show buzz: Anywhere in the world that there is an angst-ridden teenager, there is an Ends fan waiting to discover his (or her) new favorite band.
Afterthoughts: These Austin boys are the electric paddles on the chest of a beautiful punk rock corpse, shocking it back to life.
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The Bravery
Artist: The Bravery
Hometown: New York
Venue: Stubb’s, 1 a.m. Thursday
Pre-show buzz: Brandon Flowers of The Killers once belittled lead singer Sam Endicott for being in a ska band. Ironically, The Bravery sounds just like the Killers — only better.
High point: As if wearing black suits and riding speakers like defiant surfers weren’t enough, their sugar-rushed tunes energized the exhausted crowd, leaving them craving their next sugar-rushed album, “The Sun and the Moon.”
Low point: Starting half an hour late is never a good thing … but then again neither is playing an hour-long set through a neglected sound system.
Post-show buzz: It’s no wonder that Flowers apologized to Endicott, admitting that his jealousy was motivation for his insult. Let’s just say that if the two bands had a face-off for the catchiest post-punk-influenced dance rock, The Bravery would win without having to dress up like defiant school boys.
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Summer Wardrobe
Artist: Summer Wardrobe
Hometown: Austin
Venue: Mother Egan’s, Guitartown/Conqueroo party, 7ish Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: They like to call their sound ‘ambient country.’
High point: Pedal steel guitar that creates swaths of atmosphere, or even mimics an organ, and a slow, pretty, surf-inflected electric guitar solo that suddenly swooped into a feedback squall.
Low point: The vocals are more limited than the instrumental side of the band.
Post-show buzz: More people on the deck schmoozing than near the stage listening.
Afterthoughts: Appealing, but needs something to go with the ambience to avoid serving as background music.
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Hank IV
Artist: Hank IV
Hometown: San Francisco, Calif.
Venue: Lava Lounge Patio, midnight Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: Twangy twin-guitar punk with a reputation as a kicking live act.
High point: The frontman’s jittery dancing and extreme facial expressions were especially startling given that in rare moments of repose he looks like, maybe, a comptroller.
Low point: Vocals more shouted than sung became monotonous after a few songs.
Post-show buzz: The crowd was small, but it was paying closer attention than at some bigger shows, and one new fan walked out the door singing a wacky chorus about a dirty poncho.
Afterthoughts: Fun in limited doses.
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Lily Allen
Artist: Lily Allen
Hometown: Hammersmith, U.K.
Venue: Stubb’s, 11 p.m. Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: Loads of hype stateside for this young British star after her recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance — there was a long line outside when the show started.
High point: The old-fashioned, girlish sweetness of her voice — Louis Prima would have loved her — contrasted pertly with the ska- and dancehall-influenced arrangements of her fizzy tunes.
Low point: Painfully loud bass mostly drowned out the horn section and obscured Allen’s cheeky, comical lyrics.
Post-show buzz: Allen joked about being bored with singing her British hit “Smile,” but promised “For you, Austin, I’ll be excited.” She sounded bored. Many in the audience looked bored and was busy texting friends or checking their schedules.
Afterthoughts: She has a distinctive sound and good stage presence, but so far, more flash than substance.
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Kev Brown
Artist: Kev Brown
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
Venue: Zero Degrees, 12:45 a.m., Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: Kev Brown really was a victim of bad scheduling. His scheduled set fell at the same time as two other hot urban showcases — Saul Williams for the intellectual crowd and Devin the Dude for the blunted-out party set. To make matters worse, his showcase was bumped up half an hour from 1:15 to 12:45, leaving him playing to a practically empty room as his fans showed up late, missing his set.
High point: The track “Albany” is a heartbreaker. Kev’s segue into “Electric Relaxation” by the Tribe was particularly nice.
Low point: Kev was visibly dejected by the empty room and his disappointment was palpable. He was off the stage by 1:15 and the entire show petered out almost immediately afterward.
Afterthoughts: Kev’s a talented dude with unique style of soulful hip-hop. The few folks that did show up were into his sound. I hope it works out better for him next time.
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The Holmes Brothers
Artist: The Holmes Brothers
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Venue: The Parish, 10 p.m. Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: Hard-working R&B trio is getting good airplay for its new album featuring surprising covers of Cheap Trick, Nick Lowe and others.
High point: Was it turning “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding” into a rousing gospel number, or making the overworked gospel standard “Amazing Grace” as searing as a raw Delta blues?
Low point: Is it medically advisable to get this many chills up your spine in the space of 40 minutes?
Post-show buzz: Rapturous.
Afterthoughts: One of the tightest groups in any genre, the Holmes Brothers cross boundaries effortlessly, and you won’t hear more stirring vocal harmonies anywhere. Plus, Wendell Holmes is one of the great unsung guitar heroes.
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Charlie Louvin
Artist: Charlie Louvin
Hometown: Manchester, Tenn.
Venue: The Parish, 8 p.m. Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: Country musicians don’t get much more legendary than the surviving half of the influential Louvin Brothers, a near-octogenarian whose new solo album features everyone from George Jones to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.
High point: A rousing, singalong revival of the Louvin Brothers’ “Great Atomic Power,” with a wry introduction about the song’s renewed relevance.
Low point: Acoustic guitarist Diane Berry’s lovely vocals were almost too strong at times.
Post-show buzz: A big crowd of reverent fans went away happy.
Afterthoughts: Louvin’s weathered voice is as wonderful a vehicle as ever, and his modesty, humor and low-key charm proved irresistible.
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The Time Flys
Artist: The Time Flys
Hometown: Oakland, Calif.
Venue: Club DeVille , 11:15 p.m. Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: Standard-bearers for a very certain type of glammy, pre-hardcore punk rock; records are outstanding examples of same.
High point: Singer Sir Eric “the Masher” Von Ravenson’s magnificent Cuban-heel boots, skintight white pants and spectacular ’70s babysitter hair. Erin Error’s ginormous drum sound, high-octane rama-lama riffs that sound straight out of CBGB’s golden age.
Low point: Starting a little early; the growing realization that they really don’t seem to give a toss for music made after the Carter administration; fashion sense that high-concept power pop/punk revivalists Redd Kross played out 15 years ago.
Post-show buzz: Hard to read; everyone seemed pretty smashed.
Afterthoughts: The Time Flys play a dangerous game, that of recombinant revivalists - a little glam, a little punk, some garage and other junk. One moment they sound like alchemists, another they sound as derivative as any other tribute band. That said, the very grammar of rock is the sound of putting different pieces together; the trick is to hide your sources well or mistranslate them so drastically that they come out sounding like something else entirely. The Time Flys don’t really do either; while they would sound perfect on a bill between the Voidoids and Cheap Trick, it isn’t exactly the sound of young America.
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The Hudsons
Artist: The Hudsons
Hometown: Austin
Venue: BD Riley’s, 11 p.m. Wednesday
Pre-Show Buzz: Austin’s friendliest alternative folk band since 2001.
High Point: “It Just Takes One” and “The Shield” provided ample proof of their fertile songwriting creavity.
Low Point: The crowd that was more engaged in cell phone coversations than in the product of 20 strings. Normally, the place would be dead quiet during “Innocencia.”
Post-Show Buzz: No wonder they copped best folk group at the Austin Music Awards earlier in the evening. Hard work has indeed paid off for the Hudsons. Now the wait begins for their third album, “Spend Forever Going Nowhere.”
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The Faceless Werewolves
Artist: The Faceless Werewolves
Hometown: Austin
Venue: Beerland, 11 p.m., Wednesday
Pre-show buzz: A noisy, trashy, distortion-laced, in-your-face power trio with a great band name and a debut album recorded last year at Austin’s notorious studio, the Bubble.
High point: When guitarist Baldomero Valdez dropped to his knees, shredding his guitar while singer/guitarist Kelsey Wickliffe played inspired Electro Harmonics Cry Baby/wah-wah pedal white-noise squall and squeak.
Low points: The vocals, hands down. Wickliffe rocked her aqua blue left-handed Fender Mustang like a champ, but singing is supposed to be enjoyable for a listener. The Werewolves’ vocals weren’t horrible, but a little tweaking could speed them to the top, bypassing the medium-cool of mediocrity, and make the band one of the “greats” instead of just “pretty good.”
Post-show buzz: The band’s track currently on KROX 101.5’s The Next Big Thing is hot with a capital H. Likewise, the band members are young and attractive (which is always a plus for marketing purposes within Generation YouTube). These kids met and formed circa 2001 while in college in Denton, so don’t let their carefree cool-pose fool you: the Werewolves stage a throbbing live show.
Afterthoughts: When the Werewolves morph their three-part vocals into harmonies — instead of three-part screams — the band is unusual enough to walk the line with the White Stripes and Royal Trux.
